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David Craan

Baseball

Illinois Continues Homestand Against Bradley

Baseball

Illinois Continues Homestand Against Bradley

Illinois (6-15, 0-3 Big Ten) vs. Bradley (9-12, 0-0 Missouri Valley)
When March 28 at 6 p.m. CT
Where Champaign, Illinois // Illinois Field
TV BTN Plus (subscribe)
Radio Fighting Illini Sports Network | WDWS AM-1400
Live Stats FightingIllini.com
Notes Illinois // Bradley
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Probable Starting Pitchers
Day Illinois Bradley
Tue., 6 p.m. CT RHP Cyrillo Watson (1-1, 5.84) LHP Cole Cook (5-0, 1.99)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois hosts Bradley for the first time in five years Tuesday in a game broadcast online on BTN Plus. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

Illinois (6-15, 0-3 Big Ten) looks to regroup with five straight nonconference games after being swept 3-0 by Michigan State last weekend. The Illini face Indiana State this weekend and travel to Sauget, Illinois, for a matchup against Mizzou next Tuesday before finally joining Big Ten play again April 7-9 against Michigan.

Freshman Cyrillo Watson (1-1) is scheduled to make his second straight Tuesday start. He pitched three scoreless innings last week against Illinois State to earn his first career victory.

ABOUT BTN PLUS

BTN Plus is an online streaming service that requires an additional subscription not included with BTN network TV packages. BTN Plus content features live games produced by students at Big Ten universities, commonly referred to as "Student U" broadcasts.

NOTES

• Illinois has started freshman shortstop Ben Troike and freshman second baseman Michael Massey during every game. Troike and Massey are the only Illini to start every game at the same position.
Michael Massey is the 14th toughest player to strikeout in the nation (21.0 AB/SO) and ranks third in the nation among freshmen.
Ben Troike ranks 40th in the nation in strikeout rate (14.8 AB/SO) and sixth among freshmen
• 145 of Illinois' 195 hits have been by freshmen or sophomores (74.4%). Freshmen have 37 hits, all by Massey and Troike.
• 161 1/3 of Illinois' 183 innings pitched have been by freshmen or sophomores (88.2%).
Jack Yalowitz has been the Illini's offensive leader, ranking sixth in the Big Ten in batting average (.359), fifth in slugging (.603) and 12th in on-base percentage (.430). He's also 13th in the league in runs (18), 13th in hits (28), fourth in RBIs (22), fourth in triples (2), seventh in home runs (4), sixth in total bases (47) and 11th in stolen bases (7).
• Four Illini regulars are batting over .300 -- Jack Yalowitz (.359), Pat McInerney (.321), Casey Dodge (.311) and Michael Massey (.310)
• McInerney leads the Big Ten in slugging percentage (.667) and ranks 50th in the nation.
• McInerney ranks 11th in the NCAA in home runs (8) and is tied for the Big Ten lead with Iowa's Jake Adams. McInerney has already surpassed his home run total from last year (7) with eight homers in 2017 after hitting three homers in three games against Michigan State last weekend.
• Illinois has already hit 23 home runs in 2017 after hitting 27 in all of 2016.
• The Illini ranked 26th in the nation and third in the Big Ten in home runs per game (1.10) entering the week.
• Illinois hit six home runs March 4 against Florida Atlantic in a 14-4 win. It was the Illini's most since May 8, 2005 (7 vs. Northwestern).
• Illinois is 17th in the nation with 1.10 in double plays per game entering the week.
• Illinois tied a program record with five double plays Feb. 24 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. It is tied for the second-most double plays against a Division I team in 2017. Columbia turned six March 14 against Southern Miss.

UP NEXT

Illinois hosts Indiana State for three games Friday-Sunday.

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Players Mentioned

Casey Dodge

#31 Casey Dodge

C/INF
6' 0"
Redshirt Freshman
R/R
Pat McInerney

#27 Pat McInerney

OF/1B
6' 5"
Senior
R/R
Jack Yalowitz

#3 Jack Yalowitz

LHP/OF
5' 11"
Sophomore
L/L
Michael Massey

#6 Michael Massey

INF
6' 0"
Freshman
L/R
Ben Troike

#4 Ben Troike

INF
5' 10"
Freshman
R/R
Cyrillo Watson

#22 Cyrillo Watson

OF/RHP
6' 1"
Freshman
R/R

Players Mentioned

Casey Dodge

#31 Casey Dodge

6' 0"
Redshirt Freshman
R/R
C/INF
Pat McInerney

#27 Pat McInerney

6' 5"
Senior
R/R
OF/1B
Jack Yalowitz

#3 Jack Yalowitz

5' 11"
Sophomore
L/L
LHP/OF
Michael Massey

#6 Michael Massey

6' 0"
Freshman
L/R
INF
Ben Troike

#4 Ben Troike

5' 10"
Freshman
R/R
INF
Cyrillo Watson

#22 Cyrillo Watson

6' 1"
Freshman
R/R
OF/RHP